She was such a nice girl, before all that knitting

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Monthly Archives: December 2007

I was really, truly afraid that Christmas was going to suck. Despite my enduring affection for cookies, carols and presents of every stripe, I was not feeling the love this Christmas. Everyone in the Knit One, Purl Too household had the stomach flu, so close to the 25th that I was sure we would have to say “no, we can’t visit – we might throw up on you” to my family. There was no tree until I bought a wee one at the grocery store on the 22nd, and Christmas shopping didn’t get finished until the 23rd. Plus, I dumped a full cup of coffee on the Knit One, Purl Too Interweb hub – I could not have soaked my laptop more throughly if I had been trying. So there’s all that. Between the creeping crud and various mishaps and holiday chores, Cable and Rib languished for a good two weeks, which was another downer.

With just a few hours left in good old 2007, I’m here to say I rallied. I won’t be done with Cable and Rib by the time the ball drops, but I have just a sleeve and a half to go. I’ll be so proud when it’s finally done, and despite feeling incomplete, it’s worth remembering that I did manage to finish 14 things this year – here’s a look back:

Yes, I know one of them’s a sewing project, but I’m not counting it, just showing off. Even without a finished Cable and Rib, I’m very happy with this year’s highest-ever FO total. Obviously, the key to more FOs is starting more small projects! I have very few knitting resolutions for 2008, except for this: For the first 14 projects of 2008, I’ll knit from patterns or books I already have or know about – so I can buy a pattern I’ve had my eye on for awhile, but new patterns or new knitting books go to the end of the line. It’s knitting from another kind of stash, and with 154 items in my Ravelry queue, I think I’m covered.

Happy New Year to you and yours – everyone at Knit One, Purl Too wishes you a germ-free, knitting filled New Year!

It is a tense time here at the house of Knit One, Purl Too. The best of intentions are meeting up with reality: a. November and December are really busy at work, and b. it takes what seems like forever to make it to the end of a sleeve if you start by picking up 168 stitches. Translation? I will probably not be done with Cable and Rib by December 31. Damn.

I did a beautiful job of picking up stitches for the sleeve, if I do say so myself – and then I lost momentum when I saw how wide it was. [It’s like starting the back all over again! The sleeves are bigger than the fronts! How can that be right – is this a plot? – ed.] We’re on the downhill slope again now after seven inches of sleeve knitting, but the idea that I need to turn around and do it all again on another sleeve in 18 inches is killing me. Also, as I feared, this is no longer a portable project – and I have crossed that line after which I am pretty sure I must knit every waking moment in order to complete this sweater by the end of the year. Plus, I haven’t even started my Christmas shopping.

I’m pretty bummed about this total and utter failure to meet an arbitrary, self-imposed deadline, but I distracted myself with a little something – my first serious sewing project. This is the Jordy bag made famous on Craftster, and sewed by me – and Knit One Purl Too’s Chief Seam Wrangler (a.k.a my husband). I learned how to thread our sewing machine and I sewed the lining (peek inside), and he sewed the outside (while I made gingersnap rum balls) – we used material from the sleeves of a denim jacket, so that closure you see there is one of the cuffs. I have a bling-y button ready to top it off, which I have had stashed in one jewelry box or another since I was nine. If I can’t finish this sweater in time, at least I can sew an endless supply of sock bags now.

Bonus link: if you are a fan of Christmas music in all its forms, you will love DJ Riko’s Mixmas mixes as much as I do – just the right mix of classic and kitsch.